Le Temps Déformé (2017)
Duration: 17 minutes
Instrumentation: solo flute, percussion, and strings
Commissioner: New York Classical Players
Performance History
4/7/2017, New York Classical Players w/ Jasmine Choi (fl) & Dongmin Kim (director), Queens, NY
4/8/2017, New York Classical Players w/ Jasmine Choi (fl) & Dongmin Kim (director), Morristown, NJ
4/9/2017, New York Classical Players w/ Jasmine Choi (fl) & Dongmin Kim (director), New York, NY
Instrumentation: solo flute, percussion, and strings
Commissioner: New York Classical Players
Performance History
4/7/2017, New York Classical Players w/ Jasmine Choi (fl) & Dongmin Kim (director), Queens, NY
4/8/2017, New York Classical Players w/ Jasmine Choi (fl) & Dongmin Kim (director), Morristown, NJ
4/9/2017, New York Classical Players w/ Jasmine Choi (fl) & Dongmin Kim (director), New York, NY
Program Notes (click)
‘Le Temps Déformé’ is an essay on relative time – not from the perspective of quantum mechanics, but from personal thoughts and experiences. Time is non-linear and multi-layered in that one always goes back and forth between the past and future and even in the present. As a composer, I have become conscious of and familiar with another type of distorted time: spending anywhere from an hour to more than a month to compose a minute of music! Various 19th and 20th century paintings, including those of Matisse, Mondrian, and Miró, keep reminding me that the arts are very much about ‘how to perceive’ in addition to ‘what to observe.’ I have strived to translate this abstract concept to my music in different ways and from different perspectives.
In ‘Le Temps Déformé,’ I speculate about the relationship between time and memory. Random memories, mostly from my recent life in the United States (but also from even earlier reminiscences), symbolized by a handful of musical fragments, in their own tempi – constant or flexible – are blurred and nonsensically juxtaposed. Some of the musical fragments are quotations: from three hymn tunes, one piece of my own music, Korean traditional court music, a sonata, and a concerto. The flute vagabonds for 17 minutes, almost ceaselessly, exploring a wide array of memories and emotions.
플룻, 타악기와 현악앙상블을 위한 ‘뒤틀린 시간’ (2017)
마티스, 모네, 몬드리안 등19세기말 20세기 초 서양화가들이 오브제만큼 (아니 어쩌면 더) 중요하게 생각한 것이 시선의 왜곡 (또는 그로 인한 자신만의 세계관 확립)인데, 이런 개념을 음악에 적용하는 것이 가능할까? 필자는 근 10년간 이 질문에 대답하기 위해 다양한 시도를 해왔는데, 이번 작품 ‘뒤틀린 시간’에서는 특히 시간과 기억을 키워드로 하여 접근해 보았다. 이 작품에는 작가가 미국에 온 이후의 기억들을 상징하는 (하지만 이 기억에는 또 그 이전의 기억들이 포함될 수 있겠다) 다양한 음악적 파편 (그중에는 몇 개의 찬송가들, 수제천, 작가 본인의 작품 및 다른 작품들이 포함된다) 들이 난립하는, 미로를 플룻 솔로가 쉼없이 헤쳐 나간다.
close program note
‘Le Temps Déformé’ is an essay on relative time – not from the perspective of quantum mechanics, but from personal thoughts and experiences. Time is non-linear and multi-layered in that one always goes back and forth between the past and future and even in the present. As a composer, I have become conscious of and familiar with another type of distorted time: spending anywhere from an hour to more than a month to compose a minute of music! Various 19th and 20th century paintings, including those of Matisse, Mondrian, and Miró, keep reminding me that the arts are very much about ‘how to perceive’ in addition to ‘what to observe.’ I have strived to translate this abstract concept to my music in different ways and from different perspectives.
In ‘Le Temps Déformé,’ I speculate about the relationship between time and memory. Random memories, mostly from my recent life in the United States (but also from even earlier reminiscences), symbolized by a handful of musical fragments, in their own tempi – constant or flexible – are blurred and nonsensically juxtaposed. Some of the musical fragments are quotations: from three hymn tunes, one piece of my own music, Korean traditional court music, a sonata, and a concerto. The flute vagabonds for 17 minutes, almost ceaselessly, exploring a wide array of memories and emotions.
플룻, 타악기와 현악앙상블을 위한 ‘뒤틀린 시간’ (2017)
마티스, 모네, 몬드리안 등19세기말 20세기 초 서양화가들이 오브제만큼 (아니 어쩌면 더) 중요하게 생각한 것이 시선의 왜곡 (또는 그로 인한 자신만의 세계관 확립)인데, 이런 개념을 음악에 적용하는 것이 가능할까? 필자는 근 10년간 이 질문에 대답하기 위해 다양한 시도를 해왔는데, 이번 작품 ‘뒤틀린 시간’에서는 특히 시간과 기억을 키워드로 하여 접근해 보았다. 이 작품에는 작가가 미국에 온 이후의 기억들을 상징하는 (하지만 이 기억에는 또 그 이전의 기억들이 포함될 수 있겠다) 다양한 음악적 파편 (그중에는 몇 개의 찬송가들, 수제천, 작가 본인의 작품 및 다른 작품들이 포함된다) 들이 난립하는, 미로를 플룻 솔로가 쉼없이 헤쳐 나간다.
close program note